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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Holy Spandex Batman!

Foregoing any preconceptions some may associate with events such as Montreal's 2012 Comic Con, I decided to take the plunge finally and see for myself what the hype was all about! However, that being said, I wasn't willing to do so on my own... at first I tried to wrangle my oldest son to come with me but realistically speaking he wouldn't have had the patience or the courage to face the barrage of crowds and multitude of costumed vigilantes. The line alone to buy just my ticket today took no less than just over an hour! Than it occurred to me; why not try and get some students to come along?! I wrote and teach a course entitled, Consumerism, Leisure and Popular Culture and thought that this event would be a, ahem, 'super', way of introducing new topics in the near future. Comic Con has been gaining momentum in La Belle Province and this year they have featured special guests such as Adam Baldwin from the short lived but excellent television series Firefly, Saul Rubinek from the hit television show Warehouse 13 and Wil Wheaton from shows such as Star Trek The Next Generation and The Big Bang Theory! There are some other surprise names waiting for you below as I managed to capture a few pictures of them!

I won't deny that I was excited at taking the plunge and heading out to see for myself what all of the hype was about. The majority of my students on the other hand were not as keen! Fortunately, however, a motley crew of three decided to join me. To them I say thank you as it made the experience all the more fun. I took dozens upon dozens of pictures and I am sure you will all agree that in the end a picture's worth a thousand words....

Vendors, Guests and Undoubtedly Some Secretly Clad Celebrities
Were All Dressed Up!

Say Cheese!

Security This Year Was Somewhat Strict...

Just Because...

James Marsters
He is an actor, musician and apparently likes to pray for his fans...
that or he is praying that they don't jump over the table and sexually assault him? It happens, sadly, not to me though.

Despite Popular Opinion,
Painting a Drawing Directly to Canvas is Not an Easy task...

I Just Love This!

Patrick Stewart
Also known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S Enterprise,
and to others as Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters;
Mr. Stewart also enjoys long walks along the beach, shakespear in the park and probably caviar.

And You thought the Security Guards Were Scary...

Yarg... Me Hate Knots...

I Hate Zombies...

It's Hard to Eat on an Empty Stomach....

This Zombie Wasn't So Interested in Food...
She was Handing Out Pamphlets to L'Hotel 54.

The Phantom of The Opera
has taken up a night job and presently prowls the streets of Montreal.

I FINALLY found my G1 Optimus Prime...
but I couldn't get the kid out of it! (sigh!)

When the hulk feels only 'slightly annoyed'....

Even Starfleet Personnel needs a break from the Enterprise every now and then.

There were so many more celebrities including William Shatner, Kevin Sorbo, Eddie McClintock, Aaron Ashmore, John de Lancie and Sam Witwer to name but just a few. However, seeing every single person in a span of three hours is impossible, especially when you consider the added costs involved. Comic Con took place over the course of four days and finishes tomorrow. Was it worth the $35.00 (at the door) ticket price? I'm not sure to be honest. The atmosphere was strange and not at all as I expected it to be. It felt like a strange mixture of a Marche Aux Puces (flea market) mixed with an odd assortment of celebrities thrown in for good measure. Add to that the eclectic transformations of fans and staff alike and I am on the fence about whether Comic Con should be charging admission at all.

The moment you walk into the exhibition hall you feel overwhelmed by the amount of vendors present peddling and begging you to buy everything and anything. Yet, I was underwhelmed by the decorum and effort put into making the exhibition hall attractive in any way. Compared to the Montreal Auto Show for instance you can't help but wonder where your $35.00 went. I also found it disappointing that even getting to meet the stars involved ushers pointing us towards a ticket booth where you had to purchase the right to meet celebrities and receive their autographs. For instance, to get a proper picture of yourself with William Shatner would have cost $75.00! If we are paying for every single thing inside the event than admission should reflect that. However, seeing the excitement in my students eyes and those of the die hard fans all about made the experience worth it in the end.

BugSpatteredJacket

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